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Reviews For: XIEGU G1M HF TRANSCEIVER

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

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Review Summary For : XIEGU G1M HF TRANSCEIVER
Reviews: 15MSRP: 299.95
Description:
Quad Band Portable SDR 5W SSB/CW QRP Transceiver.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cqxiegu.com/en/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
13153.2
M0XFL Rating: 2020-08-18
This is a great fun radio! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a compact, fun and useful HF rig.
Mine is connected to a Raspberry Pi (comes with a CAT lead in the box). It's perfect for remote operation. It is also very easy to use, easier than an FT-817 for example.
There are some issues: Mine did not come with rubber feet, it gets hot, the mic and speaker are a bit naff. But to be fair, the speaker on my KX3 is a bit naff!
I've connected a KX3 Mic to mine (I think it's the same pinning, I'm pretty sure I haven't changed this). An external speaker works wonders for the sound (or use headphones).
The user manual is friendly, I can tell that the company has tried hard to make this radio as good as possible within the budget.
I've said that it comes with a PC lead, also a power lead and a mic in the box. Not much more to say.
Honestly, this little radio is a lot of fun and highly recommended for grassroots radio ops. A++
K1BQT Rating: 2020-03-16
A lot of radio for the money! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
A fantastic little QRP rig with "big-kid" performance. Excellent receive and transmit audio -- but to get it you'll need an external speaker and a different microphone. So far I've only encountered two significant problems.

The first is the mic. For one thing, the mic line in the coiled cable isn't shielded, so expect RFI and hum problems -- and forget about using an amplifier. Also, the mic cartridge is much smaller than the mic mounting cavity molded into the mic case, so the audio is hollow and muffled. Finally, the RTS connector sections are poorly aligned which places unnecessary stress on the mic jack. I made a desk mic using a $.75 electret cartridge and get excellent audio reports. Hopefully Xiegu will find a better mic for what is otherwise and excellent sounding radio.

Which brings me to the second problem. The 3.5-mm jacks (there are 5 of them) are surface-mount and there is a solder-wetting issue with the mounting tabs causing them to pop and lose contact if stressed. If you have a iron with a small tip, it's easy enough to re-solder them (or return the radio and request a replacement). I'm told Xiegu is aware of the problem and switching to a connector part with better soldering characteristics.

With those two problems out of the way, I'm using mine to drive a 300-Watt FET amplifier with no problem.
WA6RUI Rating: 2020-03-03
Chinese Junk Radio Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I got my G1M in December, it receives ok as a nice toy
shortwave radio other than that mind was useless!
Mind has no output what so ever on any band.
When I connected my CW key the plug broke.
Very poor soldering all around.
I am so sorry to have gotten this JUNK radio!
To many Problems with it.
I would like to sell it and get a real radio!
Yes I do hate this crap!
This is just my opinion.
AA1UY Rating: 2019-10-31
So far, so good. Impressive Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Really nice little rig that gets out and receives very well.

5-7 Watts out on all available bands and modes. No power out adjustment or RIT though.

Easy to use menu system that allows adjustment of most of the usual settings.

Band scope is usable if you adjust the scaling.

Current version v. 1.05 has AM receive (only) as well as CW, LSB and USB Tx/Rx.

Not described in manual “CW Trainer” function is, I think, the ability to switch off “QSK” thus giving you a morse code practice oscillator.

CW mode switches in an 800 Hz bandwidth filter automatically.

For antenna tuning, it’s easiest to whistle for SSB but for CW you can (via a menu) switch from paddle to straight key, key your paddle for a continuous tone and then quit the menu (putting you back into paddle mode).

Although not mentioned in the specs., it obviously has a very effective speech compressor (confirmed by Xiegu). Audio on receive is a little low but improves with headphones.

The microphone plug concern is probably due to the metal part having two diameters (I.e. it’s *not* meant to be rammed *fully* into the socket up to the plastic cover). A little finesse is required.

The transceiver gets pretty warm (bordering on hot) in use 40-60 degrees C. is normal per the manufacturer, so... wonder how long the SM components will hold up...

Anyway, it’s *much* cheaper and gets out *much* better (on SSB) than a stock FT-818ND and no need to buy an ($80) accessory speech compressor or ($150) CW Filter. No VHF/UHF? Get a Baofeng for next to nothing if you need that.
WX5DC Rating: 2019-09-02
Good but still fragile Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The G1M is an update to the Xiegu X1M QRP radio. It appears to have some improvements, and it does certainly work. Receives really quite well. However, there are a few problems. The mic jack is surface mount soldered to the motherboard. I was trying to insert it fully, and it ripped the jack right off and into the interior! Fortunately, the pads remained and I was able to solder it back on. When I tried the microphone again it appears that the 3.5mm plug on it is a little large, and it does take some extra force to get it in.

The microphone plug is also already showing wear - the jacket separated from the plug housing and reveals the wires.

The spectrum display that the SDR architecture affords is pretty neat. However, much more important for portable use would be an SWR indicator since most QRP tuners don't have a meter.

Note that when you buy on EBay from China it is uncertain if you really have warranty. My seller told me to resolder and it wouldn't void my warranty, but didn't really offer to fix it. I suspect in truth I am on my on for any further issues.

Be careful plugging anything in - the 3.5mm jacks are all the same and all only surface soldered.